Bulwark
by MrTitan135
Summary: Not all quirks are simple or heroic. Some quirks are monstrous, cursing the lives of those who have them. This is the story of such a boy, cursed to be an armored giant. This is his story of how he turned his curse into a blessing. Rated M for titans and violence later down the line. Thank you to Raizen1125 for helping me brainstorm!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. I know I've done a crossover of Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia before, but it was a long time ago when I was really new to writing, thus it sucked. The shingeki no kyojin tag eventually got fused with the Attack on Titan tag, so my story kind of got borked and was cast into oblivion. I decided to redo it after a while of brainstorming and contemplating on my previous failure of it. I want to thank Raizen1125 for brainstorming this whole thing with me! I couldn't have done it without his help! Go check out his stuff!**

**Let's give it another go, shall we?**

**I think it's safe to say I don't own any of these series.**

**One more thing. When The MC joins U.A., he's going to replace Aoyama. Let's be honest here, who would you want? A guy who can shoot belly button lasers, or a damn Titan? That's what I thought.**

**Anyway, I've drabbled on long enough. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: Introduction**

* * *

_Sometimes, the world doesn't need another hero. Sometimes, it needs a monster. But I say...Why not both?_

* * *

Quirks. Wonderful things, aren't they? A long time ago, in a hospital on one fateful day, a baby was born. That baby was special, for he shone with radiant light that made him look like a living light bulb. From that day forward, children all around the world began to manifest their own powers. Being a new phenomenon, science could not yet explain it.

As the years went by, people all over the world began gaining these powers, "Quirks" as they were dubbed. Some were mundane, others were downright godlike. Naturally, as humans do, some decided to use their power for their own benefit.

These people became the first villains.

As more time passed, some individuals became sick of it and rose to challenge these villains. They challenged them in the name of all that is good and just. Challenged them to protect the innocent.

The first heroes were born.

Over time, quirks became a regular part of society. Almost everyone had one. Their own unique power that defined them.

Fast forward a few decades, and we have full blown hero agencies. That's right. Superpowers only thought possible in comic books were now a reality, and being a superhero was a profession now. From stopping crime to preventing major disasters, being a hero quickly became a dream for people everywhere. Each of their quirks became a useful tool in achieving that dream. Some successful, others not so much.

But some people...Some people don't like their quirks. Be it out of lack of practical value, or just not liking what it does.

Other quirks can be disliked because of what they do to the user, what it turns them into.

Our person of interest is one such a boy. A boy with a quirk that turned him into something monstrous. He bears this quirk much like his father, and his father before him, dating all the way back to a woman by the name of Ymir Fritz. This is his life. His curse. This is that boy's story of how he molded his curse into a blessing.

Deep in Musutafu Japan, in a fairly average apartment, a family of three start their day.

* * *

"Come on Mikey, you'll be late for school! Wakey Wakey!"

"Gah! Shoot! Thanks Ma!"

_**Michael Fritz. Age 17. Lives with his mother and father in an old apartment. Tends to avoid confrontation and keeps to himself. Immigrated from North America. Afraid of his own quirk.**_

Mike sprang up from his bed and ran into the bathroom to clean himself up. He looked at himself in the mirror. Same old face. Brown, unruly hair, green eyes with a tint of gold, and those ugly markings under his eyes. He brushed his teeth and ran a wet comb through his hair, straightening it out as much as it would allow.

Running back into his room, he rummaged through his dresser for something decent to wear. Aaaaand his uniform's dirty. Great.

"Moooom! Do we have a spare uniform?"

"Top drawer!"

"Thaaaaanks!"

He never thought he'd see the day when he needed a spare uniform. He was thankful to say the least. Slipping into his black uniform, he grabbed his backpack and sprinted down the steps, jumping the last two.

His father sat at the kitchen table, reading a book and looking stoic as ever. His appearance wasn't all that notable. Average physique, brown hair, completely gold eyes with markings running down his cheeks, pointed ears, and sharp teeth. His mother sat on the couch, folding the recent batch of laundry in her armored lap. His mother was definitely on the more eye-catching spectrum of quirks. Mutation quirks will do that to you. Tan armored plates covered her body from her blonde-haired head down to her toes, with room in the joints for freedom of movement. Even with the armored plating and barely visible facial features, she was a stunning woman. She was a kind woman, but stern and disciplined when she needed to be.

Mike ran over to the pantry and reached into a box of non-brand pastry squares and shoved a packet into his backpack.

"Have a good day at school sweetie."

"I will ma." Mike jogged over and gave his mom a hug and a kiss on her armored cheek.

"You have that ring I gave you?" His father looked up from the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow at mike.

"Daaaad, why do I have to keep that thing with me? It's dangerous to keep around!"

"When you need it, you'll thank me."

"Humph. Fine. Love ya dad. Bye dad."

"See you when you get home."

"Bye!~" Mike called as the door shut behind him.

…

"Damien?"

Mike's father looked up from his book to meet the concerned eyes of his wife, Marida.

"You rarely tell him to keep that ring with him. You think something's going to happen?"

"Can't say for sure," Damien put his book face down. "But I have a gut feeling. Bad one this time."

* * *

Mike hurried down the stairs and into the apartment lobby. An old couple waved hello, and he returned the greeting. He'd seen them before. Nice people. Waving goodbye, Mike walked out the lobby door and headed down the street.

After walking for a few minutes, he checked his phone, then looked up. Right next to him was his best friend, Minato Kurisu. The boy had neatly combed dark blue hair and round glasses, all topped off with his school uniform.

"Morning."

"Right on time, as usual."

"Are you seriously keeping track of me?"

"Maybe a little bit."

"You keep that up, I'm going to sic Doctor Snuggles on you."

**Minato Kurisu, Age: 16. Quirk: Chinchillin'. He can control chinchillas with his mind. He can also see and feel the world from their perspective when doing so. His pet chinchilla is named Dr. Snuggles.**

"And why would that be a bad thing again?"

"You've never had a chinchilla running down your pants."

"Okay, never mind. I don't want to know."

"Hey, I've noticed your Japanese is getting better! Nice job!"

Mike flushed a faint pink, a little embarrassed to have such a thing pointed out. He was happy nonetheless.

"Uh….Thanks."

"No problem. Er, this is an odd question, but...Do you ever use your quirk?"

Mike stiffened. Minato stared at his friend with a curious and slightly worried gaze.

"Well," Mike rubbed the back of his neck. "Not all of it, no." The two stopped walking and leaned against a building for a moment. "It has some passive effects like regeneration and I emit steam from my body when I do regenerate, but other than that, no. I don't want to use the other part. Too dangerous. I've only ever had it happen once, but I don't remember it. My dad told me about what happened. Bad news is that I still don't know what triggers it."

Minato saw the worry in his friend's face and pulled him along. "Well, whatever. If you don't want to use it, that's fine. Come on, we'll be late if we don't move."

"Oh! Right! Sorry!"

The two headed down the street towards school. Thankfully, the rest of the walk was uneventful. The two talked about what they did the day before, current events, and the possibility of hero work someday.

School was also a bore. They just reviewed stuff that was covered last week, the teacher seemingly indifferent to the matter.

When the lunch bell came around, that was when Mike and Minato were finally free. The two got their lunches and plopped down at a table away from everyone else. This part of the day, Mike actually enjoyed. Not only would he be hanging around with his best friend, but he'd be studying and actually learning something! Mike had been learning Japanese for a few years now. Professional tutors had helped, but Minato seemed to have boundless patience with him. Minato had decided to teach Mike himself. And it had paid off. Mike became more and more fluent with the language, only slipping up every once in a while. In a way, Minato was more helpful than any of the actual teachers.

"You're getting really good at this! It's amazing how far you've come in just a few years!" Minato beamed and closed his books.

"Thank you! I never knew I could learn a new language this fast!" Mike smiled and clapped his hands happily.

"Good thing I know a bit of English, otherwise this might have been a lot more difficult."

"Heh. Yeah. Oh! Lunch is almost over! We should probably get back to class."

"Why do you think I was packing up?"

"Fair point."

The two students finished packing their things and headed back to class. Art class was next. Between the two friends, it was agreed that art was their favorite subject. In art class, people can express their individual creativity and show off to the world!

(Or at least their class…)

Their art teacher plopped down at his desk and sorted some papers on said desk. "Alright, listen up." He lazily addressed the class. "I don't care what you make today, just don't make a mess of the place. Paint, draw, whatever. Don't care."

An enthusiastic cheer erupted from the class.

Minato had a passion for painting. His active imagination was free to create whatever it wanted on a canvas. With the available tools, he let his mind run wild with ideas.

Mike was more into sketching. With an equally active imagination, he would draw all sorts of strange creatures. Some humanoid, some beastly.

Mike pulled out his sketchbook and his box of pencils, and went to town.

"Whatcha drawing this time?" Minato leaned over his shoulder.

"I'm thinking something humanoid this time."

"Haven't done one of those in a while, huh? Let me know if you think of something!"

"Will do." Mike twirled his pencil in his fingers. After a moment of thinking, he started to draw.

'Maybe something muscley…' He thought. After a few minutes, he had a broad-shouldered man sketched down. 'Now I just need the face and-'

"Agh!" Mike clutched his head. "The hell was that?"

"You alright dude?" Minato called over from his painting.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache." Mike kept drawing. He leaned closer to his sketchbook.

'Owww! Why do I have a headache all of a sudden!? Did I hit my head or something?!' He kept drawing, hopefully drowning out the pain.

"Details…" He muttered. "I need more details."

He went back over his sketch. Two arms, two legs, head, shoulders, knees, toes, and…

'Armor?'

Chiseled, rock-like armor adorned the body of his newest work. When had he drawn armor…?

"Hey, you really don't sound too- Woah." Minato stood over Mike. "That's a new one. Inspiration?"

Mike was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say or think in that moment. He was interrupted by a waving hand.

"Hellooooo? Earth to Fritz?"

"Huh! What?! Stop it."

"It kind of reminds me of your mom."

"Excuse me?!"

"The armor. Reminds me of her. And...if she was a dude instead."

Mike stared at the drawing. It...kind of did look like his mother.

"How…?" Mike stuttered. "How did I make this?"

Minato chuckled. "You mean you don't know how you drew your own art?"

"Yes. I remember I drew a humanoid sketch, but I didn't draw this armor and face. At least...consciously."

"Dude are you getting ghost drawings?" Minato ribbed him.

"Ow. And I don't know."

**BRRRRRIIIING!**

"Welp. That's the bell. Good luck with your ghost drawing or whatever. I'll catch you later!"

"See ya...later…" Mike held up his drawing closer. Looking at the imposing armored figure, he couldn't help but be filled with an eerie sense of deja vu. 'Where have I seen this before…?' He thought to himself. Maybe he should ask his dad about it. Or his mom. One of them should know something. Returning to the subject in his hands, he had to give it a title. He gave it the most fitting name he could come up with.

Mike packed his things and left the classroom. On the way out of school, he passed Minato and waved goodbye before heading their separate ways.

* * *

The streets were busy today. Mike weaved his way in and out of passing people, eventually coming to an open sidewalk he could walk freely. On the other side of the street, some hero was being pestered for autographs from fans. Mike had always respected heroes. He was almost tempted to go over there as-

"Move it, kid!"

As he went down, he saw someone running past him with a bag full of...something. Probably money judging by the paper flying out.

He didn't even have time to process that information before his head connected with the ground and the world went black.

**End of Chapter 1**

**My buddy Knight nagged me to upload the first chapter early to get some feedback on it and motivate me to continue. Thanks buddy. Have that car battery on standby.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well this story blew up quick. Glad you guys like it. Chapter 3 is finished and 4 is in development as of uploading, but my writing is slow because I'm lazy. Apologies in advance if you have to wait more.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Monster**

"GET THIS THING RESTRAINED! I CAN'T KEEP UP LIKE THIS!"

**THWAK**

'What the…? What's going on?' Mike thought. He blinked a few times trying to figure out what was going on.

His vision cleared and he saw...Mt. Lady? Didn't she debut a few days ago?

'Oh hey, heroes. What are they-' Mike stopped his thoughts when he got a closer look at her. Cuts, bruises, and bitemarks. What happened to her?

She threw a fist at him.

**THWAK**

Mike stumbled back, unprepared for the hit. He shook his head and groaned. What he did not expect to hear was an unearthly bellow from his own mouth.

'What the hell was that?'

"Its behavior's changed! Be on guard!" She yelled.

'Be on guard? For what?'

Mt. Lady took a hunched fighting stance.

'Wait. Why are you hitting me?' Mike asked her in his head.

Mike stood up straight and looked around. He was...up high…?

'Hold up...Mt. Lady has a gigantification quirk...and if she's using it, then that means...I'm bigger!' He looked around again. The place was a mess. Ruined buildings, destroyed roads and...people. Frightened people. All staring at him in fear.

'No! Wait, this is all a misunderstanding!' He shouted, but only beastly growls came out.

Another fist landed in his gut. He stumbled back, falling on his rear. The road below him shattered and kicked up a small cloud of dust.

"You aren't getting anywhere near them, you monster!" She shouted at him, malice and determination in her voice.

'M-monster…?' Mike looked down at his hands. Red muscle poked out from his skin. No. not skin.

'Armor...'

Chiseled and tan rock-like armor covered his body in place of skin. Mike stared in horror at his own body. Then something in him clicked.

The buildings around him, reduced to rubble. The frightened people. The injured heroes.

'I did this…!'

From his mouth came something akin to sobbing. Well, as close to sobbing as a giant monster could get. He stood back up as quick as he could, turned on his heel, and ran.

"Get back here you son of a bitch!" Mt. Lady called after him, no doubt in hot pursuit.

Each thundering step he took, he could feel the earth break just a little bit more beneath his feet. Mike kept running for who knows how long, trying desperately to get away. He wouldn't have stopped if it weren't for the reflective shine of a building. He skidded to a halt and walked closer to the building, untouched by his apparent rampage. He looked at his reflection and was horrified.

More armor covered his face, sculpted into a squared jawline. His eyes were a piercing yellow. He opened his mouth, and a horizontal split in the armor made itself known. His armor opened up like a sci-fi helmet, parting to reveal his teeth in a burst of steam.

"_The armor. Reminds me of her. And...if she was a dude instead."_

The reflective building was fogged up and covered in steam as Mike started sobbing again. Not weak muffled sobs from behind his armor like earlier, but full blown, unrestrained crying.

"There you are! You're not getting...away?" Mt. Lady was confused to say the least. At first, she was fighting this thing off as it tried to tear her limb from limb, now she was watching it cry like a baby.

'Just what the hell is going on today?' She sarcastically asked herself.

The monster looked at her and its eyes widened. It took up a crude fighting stance, fists still shaking from either crying, or fear. She couldn't tell which. To her surprise, the creature spoke. Well, crudely, but it still managed to speak.

"GO...AWAY...I'M… A MONSTER…" it said.

"You know I can't just let you leave. Surrender now before you do something you might regret."

"CAN'T...DO THAT."

"Then I'm bringing you in!" Mt. Lady charged at him and punched him square in the jaw. Mike's teeth rattled from the hit, even feeling one coming loose. He stumbled back and raised his fists again in defense. He didn't have to be good at fighting to know he was at a disadvantage. He had no experience fighting, and his opponent has already taken down a few villains with ruthless efficiency no doubt. He wasn't quite sure how long his armor would protect him, but he didn't want to take his chances.

Steeling himself, he threw an underhanded punch into her stomach, exploiting the opening she had created. He may have been a bit slow to hit, but damn did it hurt. At least as far as he could tell. He didn't know exactly how hard he hit her in the heat of the moment, but the small amount of blood she spat out was enough for him to get a rough idea. Too hard.

His gut wrenched at the sight of her blood. It disgusted him.

"That...all you got?!" She coughed. The fiery resolve in her eyes was both intimidating and admirable.

"PLEASE, JUST STOP. I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE." Mike had tears welling up in his eyes again. It was exactly as the saying went. "THIS HURTS ME MORE THAN YOU."

Mt. Lady wiped the blood from her mouth and grit her teeth. "BULLSHIT!" She screamed. She rushed him, keeping her body closer to the ground. Rearing her fist back, she drove it straight toward his mouth again. Seeing the approaching threat, Mike's mouth guard snapped shut.

Her fist impacted the armored plates, doing more harm to her than her target. She didn't even have time to register the pain from the armored fist planted right in her face.

Mt. Lady was thrown back by the impact, skidding across the ground to a halt. She struggled to move from her spot, quickly succumbing to the massive punch that was sent her way. She fought to retain consciousness, a battle she was quickly losing. Her head finally dropped to the pavement, and she was still. Mike looked onward from his position, barely having moved.

'None of this was supposed to happen. I'm sorry...' Mike thought as he turned on his heel and ran. He hated this. He hated every last bit of this. The day was going so well and just like that, it went straight to Hell. Mike dared not turn around and see what destruction he'd wrought. He just ran. He didn't know where or how long he'd run, but he knew-

"You've got some nerve just leaving this big of a mess behind, foul villain!"

He...he knew that voice. There's no way in hell it could belong to anyone else.

"And it's MY job to help clean it up!"

All Might. The number one pro hero. Big and buff, Blue and red western styled hero costume, two horn-like parts of hair, and a shit-eating grin that had been replaced by an uncharacteristic frown.

"Starting with you! **DETROIT…**"

'NO! PLEASE, I'M SORRY!' Mike panicked. He couldn't stop running. Not at this speed. He'd do even more damage by trying to halt his sprint. He couldn't turn either, there was no way he could turn without destroying things. Couple that with how fast he was running, and that made turning even less of a good idea. Then there's the glaring problem of All Might being right on his fucking shoulder. He was about to hit him, that much was clear as day. If and when All Might hit him, it would surely cause a shift in Mike's balance and send him tumbling, thus even more destruction. The only thing left he could do was try and minimize the damage.

"**SMASH!"**

Mike quickly slapped his left hand over All Might, covering the hero under his hand. Just in time, too. It felt like a bomb went off under his hand, as to be expected of All Might. He'd seen the hero in action before, and those he fought usually went down with one punch, somehow without any major injuries. Feeling the force of one of those punches himself was something else entirely. While All Might would most likely hold back against regular criminals, Mike didn't have that mercy. His thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers shattered from the impact, flying clean off and knocking the rest of his hand free. He didn't feel any pain, but definitely discomfort. It was a sort of numb feeling where his fingers should be, with steam pouring from the open wounds.

'Holy hell, that strength is insane! I can't take another hit like that!' Mike panicked and looked around him as buildings sped by. 'Gotta find a way out! Gotta find somewhere open!'

A green field appeared in the distance, catching his eye.

'The park! Close enough! I might be able to make it!'

All might rubbed his knuckles. "I didn't think you'd sacrifice your own fingers to do that! Ha! You truly are something. However, I won't let this destruction go on any longer!"

'Neither will I!' Mike thought. Picking up his speed, he ran full throttle towards the open field. His mouth guard cracked open and let out a burst of steam between his teeth, creating a short trail behind him. He sucked in air, and with a mighty bellow-

"**ROOOOOAARRGGHH!"**

All might covered his ears as he tried to stay balanced on the monster's shoulder. He turned his head and saw the field. The monster was picking up speed. 'Time to get off!' He realized.

The beast did a small hop as it came to the field. It dug its heels into the ground, slowing it to a halt as it fell over forward onto its stomach. It dug its hands into the ground, pushing itself upright onto its knees.

Mike could hear the screams of people nearby, how they screamed of a monster and how they wished someone would save them. Mike felt weak. He caused all of this, he caused their screams of terror, the city-wide destruction, the injured heroes, everything. He felt weaker. Weak in the knees, the arms, even his head started to pound with a returning headache.

He just wanted to rest…

**THUMP**

The monster landed straight on its face in a cloud of dirt, dust, and steam. Jets of steam erupted from the monster's body. Its armor hissed and fell off piece by piece, each emitting a burst of steam in its own cloud. Out of the monster's nape, a pillar of steam poured from a massive gash. Out of the wound emerged a figure, groggy and unaware. He pulled himself from the fleshy nerves that bound him, and flopped off the side of the monster's neck to the ground. Slowly, he picked himself up, walked over to a nearby tree, and slumped against it, drifting off into a much needed nap.

…

…

…

"...id! Kid! Wa…"

Mike groggily opened his eyes, struggling to see around him.

"Kid! Hey! Wakey Wakey!"

His eyes finally snapped open.

"Phew! You were totally out of it! Glad you're awake now!"

All might stood there before him, smiling as if nothing happened. Mike's heartbeat spiked. He internally screamed. The one who was just trying to kill him was talking to him like he was having a friendly conversation. Wait...just tried to kill him…?

Like a bolt of lightning, the memories came back and shot through Mike's mind at light speed.

Mike pushed up against the tree, backing up further and trying to disappear.

"W-What…?" He stuttered.

"There was a giant villain running around the city. I chased them here and put a stop to it! You're safe now, young man!" All Might put his fists on his hips and gave a courageous smile.

Mike looked past All Might and saw a cloud of steam around a giant corpse.

His corpse.

There was armor bits littered everywhere. Steam rose from each of the pieces. The corpse itself had apparently begun to decay, bits of bone started poking out from the flesh. He could see finger bones, ribs, even the collarbone.

"You don't wanna see that stuff, kid. Pretty gruesome. You're not hurt are you?" All Might kneeled down to Mike's level.

"N-No sir. I'm f-fine." Mike tried to keep his cool, but was quickly failing.

"Igottagethomenow!Thankyousirbyesir!" Mike nearly shouted before shooting up and running off.

All Might barely registered what happened before the kid bolted off. "Huh. Weird kid." He said. 'Reminds me a bit of Young Midoriya…' He thought that last part to himself.

All might stood up and looked around and tried to see if anyone nearby looked suspicious. Anyone who could possibly resemble the armored giant. He found none. Sighing, he leapt off into the distance and landed in an alley.

He peeked out from the shadows. Nothing. Deciding it was safe, he exhaled, and deflated back into his skeletal self, Toshinori Yagi. His costume immediately sagged around his now skeletal form. His once groomed and styled 'All Might' hair frizzed up and turned into an unruly mess. He sighed and reached into his costume pocket and pulled out his phone. He swiped through his contacts and pulled up the number of a good friend.

**Ring! Ring!**

"Hello?" The person answered.

"Detective Naomasa. It's Toshinori."

"Ah. Toshi. Need something?"

"Yes. I need your help with a case."

* * *

Mike slumped against a building in an alley. He was tired. He had been running for at least thirty minutes by now. It was a miracle his legs didn't give out.

He leaned his head back against the hard brick wall and sighed. He let the memories flood back again, taking it slowly to analyze what he had done. He had hurt people. A lot of people. He hurt heroes. He hurt people's families and destroyed their homes and businesses.

He was a monster…

Mike felt tears well up in his eyes. He didn't bother fighting it. He just let it out, sobbing uncontrollably. He buried his face in his hands and felt tears trickling between his fingers.

He realized people would be looking for him, he knew that much. What he didn't know was what his family would say. Would they still love him? Would he still be their son? Would they even want him anymore?

He was most likely a man on the run. He couldn't go back to his family, as much as he wanted to. To just go to bed and have it all poof away like a dream? No, that just wasn't possible. He couldn't go to the police either. That'd be a one-way ticket to jail right there.

Every passing moment made the situation seem more and more hopeless.

"Excuse me?" A girl's voice called from outside the alley. Mike jolted, stiffening at the voice.

"Are you alright? I heard crying."

'Dammit…' Mike cursed to himself.

"N-no…" Mike sniffed. "Not at all…"

The person stepped into the alley, casting away her shadow. He got a better look at who found him. A tall girl with onyx catlike eyes and a spiky black ponytail, dressed in a women's school uniform.

"Here, let me help." She undid the buttons on her uniform.

"What are you doing?!" He sputtered and turned around, red as a tomato. After a few moments of unbridled embarrassment, he heard a sort of shimmering noise, and suddenly felt a blanket being draped over his shoulders.

"Huh…?" He turned back around to see her buttoning her uniform back up.

"Sorry about that. I should have warned you."

"But...where did the…?"

"How rude of me!" She bowed. "My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. My quirk is creation."

"O-oh. Nice to meet you, Momo." Mike curled up into the warm blanket. "And thank you. My name is Michael Fritz, but you can just call me Mike." He bowed his head, returning the gesture.

Um…" Momo fidgeted. "What were you doing back here?" Mike looked down and gave no response. "Do you…not have a place to stay?" Mike made a short gasp, which didn't go unnoticed.

'I can't go back home, the police will probably be looking for me so I can't stay here…I really don't have anywhere else to go.' He thought.

"No...I don't. I'm on my own." He finally answered.

"Well," Momo scratched her cheek. "If you'd like, I can set up the guest room in my apartment until you get back on your feet."

Mike had a glimmer of hope. Someone offered him shelter! Shelter to a monster like- Wait.

"Guest room? In an apartment?"

"Yes. A guest room. My apartment is actually located in the building we're next to." Momo gestured to the wall. "My parents own the building."

"You...Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." Mike sniffled as he smiled.

Momo led him inside and informed the front desk that Mike was with her. After a short elevator ride, Momo led him to her door, and he was presented with a personal slice of heaven to live in.

"I'm going to go get changed," she said. "I'll be right out. We'll prepare the guest room later."

Mike situated himself on the white sofa, practically melting into the cushions in bliss. He wiped the faint moisture from below his eyes. Momo Yaoyorozu...she took him in just like _that_. She gave him a blanket and even a place to stay in less than five minutes! They barely knew each other!

Slipping off his shoes, Mike lied down on the sofa, tucked his knees in, and covered himself in sweet, fuzzy warmth. His emotions, his problems, they all just seemed to fade away right there as he drifted off to sleep.

A minute later, Momo returned to the living room and saw Mike curled up in his new blanket. She smiled at the scene, then she turned back to fix up the guest room herself.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

***Crashes through window* I'M NOT DEAD I SWEAR I JUST GOT WRITER'S BLOCK OKAY? Anyway, I waited to post this until I got the fourth chapter done. That one should be out soon while I work on five. In the mean time, enjoy this one. A little rushed, I know but I'm workin' on it. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Chapter 3: A Chance Encounter**

Toshinori entered the detective agency and walked up to the front desk. He'd arranged a meeting with one of his old friends.

"Hello sir," A woman looked up from her computer. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm here to see Naomasa Tsukauchi." The blonde skeleton of a man responded.

The woman tapped away at her computer before returning her gaze to him. "Mr. Yagi?"

"That's correct."

"He's in his office. Head on up."

Toshinori found his way to Naomasa's office. The two were closely knit friends, so much so, that Toshinori had trusted him with his secrets. Naomasa even sometimes leaked information to him, helping with his hero endeavors. Having a detective as both a friend and ally on speed dial certainly had its perks.

"Ah. Toshinori." Naomasa's head poked out of his office door. "Come on in." The detective looked rather plain. A tall man with short black hair and black eyes. Being so plain-looking might even be considered an advantage for detective work, allowing him to blend in so well. Outside of his uniform, you'd barely recognize him.

The blonde skeleton pulled up a swivel chair and took a seat.

"Is this about the monster that just attacked the city?" The detective sat down in his own chair.

"Yeah. I want to run through the quirk database and try to I.D. the person responsible. When the monster collapsed, it seemingly...died." Toshinori looked down at his hands, like he had done something wrong.

The detective's eyes widened. "Died? Did you kill it?!"

"No! Not at all!" Toshinori waved his hands around frantically. "When it went down, it let out huge blasts of steam from its body. That's when I saw something crawl out of its neck. Definitely human. I couldn't get to it in time before I had to evacuate civilians."

Naomasa held his chin, deep in thought. "Alright. Let's see if we can find our guy. We'll take a look through the quirk database in the area. There's still the possibility of his quirk being unregistered, though. Keep that in mind." He pulled over his computer and pulled up the database. Toshinori meanwhile swiveled himself over to get a better view.

"Alright...This guy's quirk is most likely transformation or gigantification. Let's start with gigantification. It's a pretty rare subcategory of transformation, so when something like that comes up, we record it immediately. Those kinds of quirks are especially dangerous due to extreme collateral damage."

Toshinori chuckled. "Well aware of that."

The screen beeped and displayed the results based on its search parameters.

**26 RESULTS**

"Okay okay okay...let's see who we got. Oh hey, Mt. Lady is in here. Why am I surprised at that? Anyway, take a look, see if you recognize anyone right off the bat." Naomasa rolled his chair to the side and let his friend take a look.

"Hmm...a lot of them look pretty generic, save for a-" Toshinori froze as his eyes landed on two names and their faces. He recognized one of them. "That kid from the park…" he murmured

He remembered the kid decently well. Brown, unruly hair, greenish gold eyes, and dark markings under his eyes running down to his cheeks. He clicked and opened the kid's profile. Toshinori was filled with a feeling of dread, praying to whatever god existed that what happened next wouldn't paint this kid as the bad guy.

**Michael Fritz, Age 17, Place of birth: California, United States of America**

"No...come on kid...please…"

The gods didn't answer.

**Registered Quirk Type: Transformation**

**Official Name: Titan**

**Description of Quirk: Subject can create a giant body to pilot like a suit of armor. Quirk Appearance unknown. Last use unknown. Basic quirk Information was provided by the father, as information from the subject himself was non-applicable.**

"Why did you do this, Young Fritz…?" Toshinori held his head in his hands.

"You knew him?" Naomasa cocked an eyebrow.

"He was the kid I found at the park...He was passed out under a tree. I found him and woke him up. I thought he might have been injured or something so I asked him if he was alright, but he said he was fine. He said he had to go home, and just ran off. I had no idea at the time."

Naomasa crossed his legs. "You couldn't have known. None of us could."

Toshinori pulled up Another file.

**Damien Fritz, Age 46, Place of birth: California, United States of America**

**Registered Quirk Type: Transformation**

**Official Name: Titan**

**Description: Subject can create a giant 17 meter body to pilot like a suit of armor. This body is described to resemble a large ape with very long arms and legs with a small head. This transformation carries numerous abilities such as increased strength proportional to its size, regeneration of lost limbs, extreme throwing strength, and an alarming level of agility for its size.**

"Looks like this guy is Michael's father." Naomasa took a look over his file. "Jeez, he sounds like a handful if he ever went rogue." He chuckled.

Toshinori suddenly stood up from his chair and headed towards the door.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Toshinori grumbled. "I'm going to find Young Fritz. I want to get his side of the story."

"Toshinori Yagi, get back here. We know where his parents live, but we don't know where Michael is. He could be anywhere. Besides, even if you did find him, how would you get him to cooperate? You can't just waltz up to him like that and say 'Hey, I'm All Might, I wanted to apologize for hunting you down and beating the shit out of you'. Multiple things could happen: One, he wouldn't believe you and demand proof. There goes your big secret. Two, you could chase him down as All Might and freak him out further. Three, you could try to reason with him and end up having him go ballistic again and destroy the rest of the city!"

Toshinori let go of the door handle and turned back around to face his friend. "I can't just leave him."

The detective pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Toshi, I know you want to help this kid, but this isn't your fight." Toshinori narrowed his eyes, his gaze practically screaming 'Watch me, bitch'.

"Michael is cornered, for lack of a better word. With the recent incident, we can assume he has the mindset of a frightened animal. Cold, alone, and ready to attack at a moment's notice. The best course of action is to contact his parents and let them know the situation."

Toshinori's eyes widened. He thought back to the park, remembering how Michael behaved. Jittery, nervous, and downright fearful. That behavior made sense now.

"You've said it yourself before, Toshi. 'Sometimes, just let the police handle things.' Now's the time to do that. Besides, shouldn't you be training your successor right now?"

"BLECH!" Toshinori coughed up a bit of blood. "Young Midoriya! I almost forgot! Thank you for reminding me! I must be going. Thank you for helping. Oh and Naomasa?" Toshinori opened the door and turned back to his friend. "Please find him quickly…"

"We will, rest assured." The detective waved goodbye as Toshinori left the office. Naomasa sighed and sat back down in his chair, swiveling back to his desk.

**Ring! Ring!**

The office phone rang.

"Hello?"

"We've found something at the scene. We found a backpack. Looking for anything that can tell us who it belongs to."

"Alright. Keep me posted."

**Click!**

"Now then…" he said, looking at the file of Michael Fritz. "Where are you…?"

* * *

Mike slowly opened his eyes and sat himself upright. He was still wrapped in that snuggly, warm blanket Momo gave him. He looked around the apartment, taking in his surroundings while trying to wake himself up.

"Huh...still here…" He mused. "Surprised she hasn't kicked me out."

Groaning, he reluctantly kicked off the blanket and planted his legs on the floor.

"Oh. You're awake. Good evening." He heard Momo's voice from behind him. He turned around to face her. She had changed into a grey hoodie and sweatpants. 'Huh. Never expect her to dress so casually, considering her formal attitude…' He thought.

"Evening? How long was I out?"

"About two hours. You must have been pretty tired."

"That is a massive understatement." Mike chuckled.

"How so?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Real shitty day, pardon my French."

"But...that was English."

"I don't know the curses in Japanese so I just curse in English. English is my main language."

"Oh!" Momo perked up. "You're a foreigner? If you speak English, can I assume you come from the Americas?"

"Bingo." Mike pointed two finger guns at her. "Moved to Japan a few years back. People didn't exactly like my family because of me and my father's quirks. America is still chaotic since quirks appeared all those years ago."

"That's terrible! How did you manage to live there for so long?!" She practically shouted.

"I was born and raised in California. The policies on quirks are pretty lenient and forgiving there. Not much prejudice normally. Keyword: Normally." He sighed. "You'd think that after 200 years, America would get its shit together."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that you had to move here to escape that mess. What sparked it?" She walked around the sofa and took a seat next to him.

"Quirk accident. I don't have the best control. My dad does, but he stopped me a little too late." He sighed and tilted his head down, refusing to look the girl in the eye. "Or...so I'm told. I don't even remember it."

"How can you not remember something like that?" She asked incredulously.

"I don't know. The thing is, no matter how hard I try, I remember everything leading up to it, but not the actual accident. My dad told me what I did after I woke up."

"If I may ask, what kind of quirks does your family have?" Her eyes sparkled a little bit.

"Okay, well...You know how genetics work, right? The child's quirk may become a composite of the two parents?"

"Yeah?"

"My dad can turn into essentially a giant ape. About seventeen meters tall last time I saw it. He can regenerate and can throw things really hard and really far. Don't know what else it can do."

"Woah…" Momo took in the description of his dad's quirk, imagining a giant monkey running around throwing rocks everywhere.

"My mom on the other hand has a constant hardening mutation. Not sure whether to classify it as transformation or mutation, but it's still pretty neat. She's constantly covered in tan armor plates all over her body. It's like a skintight suit of armor. She can make it shed off but it leaves nasty red marks that she absolutely hates."

"Wow, sounds like their quirks are pretty strong! What about you? Saving the best for last maybe?" She smiled.

'She has no idea...but can I trust her…?' Mike thought to himself. He looked up at her and saw nothing but a friendly and cheerful smile. 'Fuck it, I've already gone this far.'

"Momo. I need you to promise me something. Two things, actually."

"Huh? What is it?" Her smile faded a bit, now laced with concern.

"My first request, Never tell anyone else about my quirk. This is for your ears only." He held up his index finger.

"Uh...okay. Is it something bad?" Her smile had completely vanished and was replaced with a worried frown.

"Second," he held up his middle finger alongside the first. "Please don't hate me. I already hate myself."

"Mike, why are you making me promise this?"

"Momo, I am not the best person."

"Are you a villain or something?!"

"No, but I might as well be." Mike took Momo's hand in his and started rubbing it gently. "Please...promise me you won't hate me…"

After a long silence, Momo responded. "I promise."

Mike stood up and made his way to the apartment's window curtains.

"My Quirk is a composite of my Mother and Father. I can become giant, but I don't have the ape-like traits my father does. Instead, I have my Mother's armored plates. To put it shortly, I'm a fifteen meter armored monster." He looked back at Momo who just looked at him in confusion. "Did you watch the news at all today?"

Her eyes lit up. "Y-Yes…Are you saying YOU were that monster?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. But you have to understand, I had no control over myself! I only woke up after getting the shit beaten out of me. That's when I managed to get away. They didn't hold back. They didn't show mercy. No one saw me as a person. Only another villain."

"Y-You destroyed a quarter of the city! Of course they're going to see you as a villain! But...wait. You said you were alone. You said you had nowhere to go. You...you lied to me." She clutched a hand over her heart, seemingly holding back tears.

Mike opened the curtains and looked out at the city. In the distance he could see the rubble and smoking buildings left over from his rampage. He could see the park and the pillar of steam that rose from the center. "Remember how I said how I have no control?"

Her eyes lit up, remembering his words.

"I truly don't. The last thing I remember was walking home from school. I think a criminal or villain pushed me out of the way. I fell and...that's all I remember. Next thing I know, I'm getting punched in the face by Mt. Lady." He walked back over to Momo and kneeled in front of her.

"I understand the monster that I am, and I never want something like this to happen ever again. I want to control this power so no one gets hurt by me again!" Telling her all this was gut-wrenching. He had betrayed her trust, and he hated to do that. It nearly tore him apart to lie and take advantage of a young lady's kindness.

"Momo Yaoyorozu, you gave me the benefit of the doubt and housed me despite me just being some stranger on the street. You have given me the utmost kindness in my most trying time, and for that, I thank you. But now I ask one more favor. I ask, no... _beg _to stay. I wish to serve and repay my debts. To the city, and to you."

"I...uh…" She stammered, trying to find an answer. Mike bowed his head to her, waiting for a response. "I don't really know how to handle this situation…"

"Please. It's the least I can do for your hospitality."

"Eh...I suppose. So long as you don't do the 'giant monster' thing." She relented and sighed.

"I will not disappoint you. Oh, and one more thing."

"Hm?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I had no place to go. I can't go back to my own apartment. The police will be looking for suspects. Since my quirk is classified as 'Giant' they have a very narrow search window because gigantification quirks are so rare. They'll most likely find my father and my home address. I really can't go back. I'd be found for sure. And if they find my father, then they know who I am."

"So you're a man on the run. Yikes." She said.

Mike stood up from his kneeling position and sat back on the sofa. "Yeah, but until they do find me, I'll be here to help as much as I can. You need something done, just say the word."

"I admire your persistence. Very well, you may assist in my training for U.A. It starts in a little under a year, so I need to train myself and my quirk."

"U.A.? The hero academy? You got in?! That's great! It hasn't even started and you've already been accepted? That's amazing! They must really see potential in you!"

"Actually…" Momo rubbed the back of her neck. "...I got in through recommendations. My parents got me recommended."

"That's still amazing! Tell me about your quirk! What does it do?" Mike was practically bouncing in place with anticipation. He knew the general idea of her quirk. Creating things was neat, but he wanted to know more.

"Oh. Right. Well, as you know, my quirk is called 'Creation'. As for what it does, I can configure my fat cells into whatever I want. I can make anything as long as I know the atomic composition of it or its parts."

"Woooow...that's amazing! You can make anything! The possibilities are literally endless!"

"However, I make the objects by expending those fat cells, so I have to eat a lot to store up 'ammunition' if you could call it that. Also, once an object stops touching me, I cannot alter it. The larger the object, the bigger 'canvas' I have to use." She explained.

"Canvas?"

"Yes. The objects I create emerge from my skin."

"Oh. OH. Ooooohhhh…that makes more sense now…"

"What?"

"The...the uniform thing you did. With the blanket." Mike twirled his finger around, shyly recounting their earlier interaction.

"Oh. That. Right." Both of them blushed and shared an awkward silence.

"Can I get a demonstration?" Mike finally asked.

"Um...sure." Momo held her hand palm down above the sofa cushion between them. Mike leaned forward slowly, eyes glued to her hand. Suddenly, her hand began shimmering with blue and pink mesmerizing lights, and…

Plop.

"A...A matryoshka doll?" Mike picked up the little round wooden doll. The doll had a red costume with white straps and...Momo's face. "It looks just like you. That is absolutely adorable."

"O-Oh. Uh, thank you." Mike was too busy inspecting the doll to notice her slight blush.

"So this thing is made of fat cells?" Mike asked, holding up the doll and turning it in his hand.

"That's correct. I have to have fat cells stored up to be able to make my creations, otherwise it poses some health risks."

"So is that how you maintain your figure?" Mike thought back to the alley. From the short, but embarrassing glimpse he caught of her opening her uniform, she had a nearly perfect figure.

Momo's blush intensified, turning her whole face red. "I suppose so, yes."

"What other designs can you do?"

"Well, anything I can remember, know what it's made of, and how it works."

"Have you ever considered bringing fantasy weapons to life?"

Momo seemed a little confused about the question, instead opting to answer with a long 'Uuuuhhhh'. She wasn't really into comic books or movies, so she hadn't really found anything like that to consider making. "No I haven't. My parents wanted to limit me to practical designs. I was never really allowed to make my own and experiment."

Mike stared at her with a rather annoyed expression. How dare someone limit such potential.

"Mike?"

"That's it. We're going out to buy comic books." Mike stood up and looked around the room. "Come on. Where did you put my backpack?"

Momo cocked an eyebrow. "What backpack?"

"What do you mean 'what backpack'?" He asked.

"You didn't come in with one." She answered.

"Oh no." Mike ran to the window again and pulled back the curtains. He looked back down at the park and saw multiple police cars gathered around the billowing pillar of steam. Caution tape had been strung around the area, marking it off.

"Momo, can I get some binoculars?" Mike said, still looking out the window. He heard the shimmering of Momo's quirk, and held out his hand. A pair of white binoculars was given to him.

"Thanks. Wow, these have some good lenses. Let's see...what are they doing down there...Oh. Oh crap." On the shoulder of a police officer was a black backpack hanging by one of its straps.

"What did you see?" Momo peered over his shoulder.

"Good news and bad news. Good news is I found my backpack. Bad news is so did the police."

"Okay, I see the problem. So what now?" Momo asked.

Mike handed the binoculars back to Momo and sat back on the couch. "Nothing. I can't go outside. My notebook is in that backpack and has my name plastered right on the front of it."

"That shouldn't be a problem. They might not be able to get anything with that."

"Wrong. There's two problems. The first is that they'll try to run my name through the database and find out who I am. The second problem is that I drew something rather incriminating earlier today."

Momo cringed a bit. "Please tell me you don't draw...that."

"What?! No. Only done that two or three times. I keep that in a separate sketchbook."

"That doesn't make it any better! What did you draw?"

"In my art class I got a bitch of a headache. Apparently I had sketched a monster without me realizing it. Sounds kind of cliche not having control of yourself during a headache, but I'm telling you, it's the truth. That monster I sketched very closely resembled the monster I turned into. They find that drawing and my name, they'll have people all over the place looking for me. Even more than they would otherwise." He crossed his legs and held his chin in one hand.

"Well, you can't stay cooped up here forever." Momo said. "But we'll worry about that tomorrow. Since it's getting late, let's get something to eat." Mike perked up at the prospect of filling his stomach. "However," She held up a finger. Mike couldn't help but be afraid of what might come out of her mouth next. "You're going to be the one cooking it." She said, with a nearly unnoticeable amount of smugness in her voice. "That's what I was afraid you'd say."

"Better get busy."

"Yes ma'am…"

* * *

An hour later, Detective Naomasa received another call. The police had returned with a backpack and handed it over for him to look over. There was nothing really out of the ordinary inside at first glance.

Naomasa however, was not one to quickly glance over things.

All of the backpack's contents had been laid out in an orderly fashion in piles on a large plastic table. School supplies, Gym clothes, a half eaten pastry, and a wad of money. 'Lunch money, probably.' He thought.

What caught his eye in particular was a black and white sketchbook. It was nearly indistinguishable from his other school supplies if it weren't for the label on the book.

"ELDRITCH ABOMINATION SKETCHBOOK"

Naomasa chuckled at the name. 'Sounds like he has a sense of humor.'

He opened the sketchbook and flipped through the pages. Every design was vastly different from the previous. Some humanoid, some beautiful and majestic creatures, and some were the stuff of nightmares. One he personally found disturbing was seemingly a mass of tentacles with an eye on the end of each, all tangled around each other in a tight ball with no other defining characteristics. The creature was simply and aptly named 'Watcher'.

Shuddering, he kept flipping through the pages to (hopefully) something less terrifying.

He noticed a crease in one page near the back of the book. Turning to it, he found something that might just help him in this case.

A humanoid figure with bulky plates all over its body, shaded a dark gray with lighter shading everywhere else. The creature's face was also covered in armor, with a jagged line running along its mouth. 'Just like the descriptions of it…' He thought, recounting the brief description eyewitnesses and heroes gave. He looked at the name of it and couldn't help but shiver. Not because he found it disturbing, but because it now had a name to put to its face.

'Armored Titan'

"Well that's a fitting name." Naomasa mumbled to himself. He glanced at the clock.

6:43 P.M.

His stomach acknowledged the time with a loud rumble. Sighing, he left the room and took the sketchbook with him, turned off the lights, and locked the door behind him. Putting on his hat and coat, he made his way out to his car from the detective agency. He drove down to the diner close by, hoping to get a good spot and some peace and quiet before the dinner rush starts.

The drive through the city was relatively quiet. That's not to say that there wasn't noise at all. The destruction caused by the Armored Titan earlier that day was severe, and seemed like it was just a natural disaster in a localized area. Police and ambulance sirens wailed, people were yelling and being redirected to different roads, and rescue teams were digging through crumbled buildings for anyone trapped underneath. It was a real mess. "To think…" Naomasa sighed to himself. "That a kid did all of this." Turning onto a different road from what he usually took, he drove his way down to the diner, or where he hoped it still stood.

Thankfully, said diner was still up and running. The detective pulled into a parking space and walked in. A small chime sounded from above the door, and he went to go grab himself a seat. He took his hat and coat off, draping the coat over his chair and setting his hat in front of him. A waitress came to him and greeted him with a chipper attitude and handed him a menu. He smiled and greeted her back before she left.

Looking over the menu, Naomasa's stomach couldn't seem to make up its mind. He could eat practically anything at this point. He'd been working for so long on his case, he had neglected to take a break. Well, better late than never.

When the waitress returned, he ordered an omelette and returned the menu.

"Might as well pass the time." He mumbled to himself. He reached behind him into his coat's pocket and pulled out the black and white sketchbook. He flipped to a random page and studied the creature on it.

This one was a beautiful woman dressed in dark silk robes with apparently glass or crystal wings. She was playing what looked like an ornate and regal violin. This one was titled 'Cave Siren'. While the creature looked beautiful and alluring, he could tell that design was intentionally deceiving. If the mythology of sirens was inspiration for this piece, then the nature of this creature was relatively similar. From the name, Naomasa could infer that the 'Cave Siren' would indeed dwell in caves. In his mind, he could paint a vivid picture. The siren would use its musical instrument to create beautiful music to lure victims into its home before presumably eating them.

Naomasa flipped to another page, this time finding something rather adorable.

A quadruped creature, reminiscent of an armadillo with protruding armor plates on its back and fuzz on its belly. It was sitting on its rear with a long tongue hanging out of its mouth. Its hind legs were stumpy with elephant-like toes, while its front legs had curved claws with a joint resembling a thumb. 'Aww.' He couldn't help but think. The creature appeared to be called a 'Burrowball'. Cute.

Naomasa's thoughts were interrupted by diner's door chime ringing.

"I still can't believe you burned dinner."

"I'm sorry, ok? I haven't cooked in a while. I'm a bit rusty."

A man and a woman's voices met his ears. Shrugging, he returned his attention back to the sketchbook.

"Anyway, let's order something from here. Should be fine." The man said. He actually sounded quite young.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two people take a seat in a booth not too far from him. Glancing over, he managed to get a good look at them. One of them was a young woman with black hair in a ponytail and the other was a man about the same age, both wearing black hoodies. When he looked at his face, he froze.

'That's Michael!' Naomasa screamed in his head. He averted his gaze, as Michael was sitting and facing his direction.

This...is not what the detective was expecting when he went out to dinner. All day he was working to find out who and where the Armored Titan was, and all that hard work was rewarded by having that person just waltz right in.

"Thanks for making this for me, by the way." Michael said to the girl across from him. He tugged on the fabric of his hoodie with a smile. "This thing is really comfy."

"It's no problem. You didn't have a coat with you, so it would be rude of me to go with one while you didn't." The girl replied.

Naomasa kept glancing back to them, always keeping an ear open to their conversation.

"I appreciate it. You know, you're one of my best friends. I don't really have many friends in Japan, despite being here for a few years. There's Minato, and you. No one else worth mentioning really."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that. Tell me about him."

"Okay, So when I first went to school here, I had a very basic understanding of the Japanese language. Naturally, people kinda looked at me funny. They thought I was...slow."

"Judging by the conversation we're having, I would assume the contrary." Momo chuckled and rested her head in her hand.

"Yeah. Turns out that Minato speaks a bit of English. When he and I tried to have a conversation, I accidentally slipped back into English, and he followed suit. He ended up being about as good at English that I was at Japanese. We laughed about it for a bit." Mike smiled at the memory. Thinking back to that day gave him a sense of how far he'd come since then.

"If I may ask, what does his quirk do?"

"His quirk is an emitter type, I think. Basically, he can control chinchillas."

"Chinchillas?"

"Yes. Chinchillas. Only chinchillas. He has this cute little fuzzball named Dr. Snuggles."

"Aww, that's adorable!" Momo almost squealed.

"Heh. Anyway, he's been tutoring me in Japanese for the past few years, and I've been teaching him English. It's working out pretty well. Speaking of...I wonder how he's doing. I haven't talked to him since this morning…" Mike trailed off. He started biting his nails, worrying for his friend.

"Hey." Momo snapped him out of his mumbling. "You'll talk to him again soon. You just have to figure out what you're going to do now."

"What can I do? I'm a man on the run with nowhere else to go."

"If I'm being honest, you should turn yourself in. The sooner your correct your mistakes, the better. You can't just run away forever." She said. Mike scratched his cheek idly, considering his options.

"She's right, you know." A voice called to him. Mike looked over to the other vacant table to a plain-looking man. "It's better to turn yourself in. It makes it a lot easier on everyone."

The man got up out of his chair and walked to the booth the two were seated at.

"I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. I'd like to talk with you for a bit." He said. "Do you mind?" He asked, eyes looking between the two. He noticed Mike's expression. Fear. His hands couldn't sit still and his eyes kept darting around.

"Of course. Mike?" The girl asked. His expression said 'No,' but he really had no choice. After a sheepish nod from Mike, he sat down on Momo's side of the booth.

"Now, first off: You are Michael Fritz, correct?" Naomasa clasped his hands together and looked Mike dead in the eye.

"Yes."

"Are you aware of the amount of damage you've done today?"

"Yes...I am."

"Are you willing to fix it?"

"Of course. Momo's right. The sooner I fix this, the better."

"Thank you. The police should be here soon. I'll talk with you two again at the station."

"We'll wait here, sir." Momo said.

Naomasa stood up from the booth and returned to his seat. He contacted the police and kept his eye on the two teens, listening to them again.

"Well," Mike started. He ran his hand through his hair. "This is it. If I'm being honest, I didn't expect to stay hidden for very long."

Momo smiled at him and reached over, putting her hand on his shoulder and comforting him. "It's going to be alright. You're going to fix this, okay?"

"I know, but I just don't know how." Mike sighed.

A few minutes later, a police car showed up outside the diner. Naomasa went outside and greeted the officer. Mike was escorted outside, while Momo watched from Naomasa's side. "Excuse me. Momo, was it?" She looked up at the detective. "I'm going to need you to go with him. We need your side of the story too." He said. She nodded and followed him to the police car.

* * *

Mike sat in a bare room at a wooden table. He had been told to stay here, as the detective from earlier would be talking to him again. So much had gone by today that he was having a hard time processing all of it.

"And to think…" He said to himself. "All this started from some stupid sketch…"

The door creaked open and detective Naomasa stepped inside carrying a manila folder. He was wearing a simple white button-up shirt and khaki dress pants.

"Hello again." He said, pulling up his own chair opposite of Mike.

"Hi Detective." Mike managed a weak smile.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Pretty crap if I'm being honest. This day has just been a mess."

"Let's start with some questions. I have your file, so I know the basics. Place and date of birth, school, family, things like that." Naomasa flopped the folder down on the metal table.

"Alright, ask away I guess. I don't really have a choice here."

"Glad to see we're on the same page. What happened today?"

"I...went on a rampage."

"So you were in control of your actions?"

Mike rubbed the back of his neck. "Nooooot exactly…"

The detective raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"It felt like I was in a limbo or haze, like I was just floating around in someplace warm. I had no idea what was going on. I only 'woke up' near the end of it. You can thank Mt. Lady for smacking me around a bit. I think that's what woke me up."

The detective was skeptical. Michael actively fought with a hero. Whether he was awake or not, that can't be ignored. "And how did this rampage start?" He asked. He activated his quirk, Lie Detector, to see if he was lying. He couldn't take chances with this situation.

"Well," Mike sighed. "I was walking home from school, and I saw a hero signing autographs, then someone ran past and pushed me out of the way. I fell to the ground, and that's when I blacked out. From there, the next thing I remember was Mt. Lady punching me in the face."

Naomasa's gaze softened. Truth. "So you have no recollection of the events from that point until you 'woke up'?"

"No sir."

Truth.

"Has something like this happened before?"

Naomasa saw a moment of hesitation in Mike before he responded. "No sir."

Liar. Even without his quirk, that lie was so obvious.

"You want to try that again?"

Mike's eyes widened. "It...It happened once before. It wasn't like this though. It went from me blacking out to being pulled out of some fleshy place. I didn't remember what happened."

Truth.

Naomasa sat in silence for a moment, contemplating his answer. 'So he doesn't have control. That's problematic.'

"I don't want something like this to happen again." Mike whimpered. He seemed to curl in on himself.

"I understand Michael."

"No, you don't! You don't know what it's like to have the people you looked up to suddenly turn on you! It's terrifying!" Mike's voice grew shaky. "I don't want to be the bad guy. I don't want to be a monster."

Truth, a very heavy truth.

"Right, I'm sorry. Moving on, how did you meet Miss Yaoyorozu?" The Detective asked. He opened the folder on the table and looked at one of his notes, Momo's account of what happened. 'Now to see if his story lines up.' He thought.

"Well, after coming out of my own body I guess, I just started running. Ended up in an alley and started crying. Yeah, just...crying." Mike coughed to clear his voice and straighten himself out. "She was so nice to me. She let me stay with her, even if it was just for a bit. I told her everything. I told her what I'd done, and she accepted me. No one's ever shown me that sort of kindness before. I promised to stay and repay my debt to her."

Naomasa was intrigued. 'A debt?'

"Where is she? Is she alright?" Mike asked. "Please don't get her in trouble. She didn't do anything wrong."

"No," Naomasa closed the folder. "She's not in trouble." Mike sighed in relief. "However, you are. Your parents have been contacted, and we'll be discussing proper course of action."

"Aw crap."

Naomasa bid Mike farewell and left the room, leaving leaving him alone once again.

* * *

Naomasa waited in the meeting room nearby for his two guests to arrive. Soon, they were escorted in by another officer and he gestured to open seats.

Who Naomasa could assume was Mrs. Fritz addressed him first. "I am SO sorry we had to come down here. We saw the news, is my baby boy alright?" She asked with a worried expression behind her armor. Her chair made an audible creak when she sat down.

"Yes, he's alright. Unfortunately, a lot of other people aren't. His rampage left quite the impact. About a quarter of the city is demolished, and multiple heroes have been hospitalized for their injuries. Your son is quite dangerous for not knowing what he was doing." Naomasa addressed the mother with a blank expression.

She seemed to now be frustrated at her husband, berating him in a sort of whisper-yell. "I told you that you should have trained him earlier!"

"I thought he would develop it naturally! That's what grandma did!" He responded in the same tone. "How the hell was I supposed to know he'd do this twice?!"

"You're the Titan here! You should know how this shit works!" Mrs. Fritz responded with a bit more venom in her voice than last time.

"Ahem!"

Both parents stopped arguing and turned their attention back to the detective. "Mr. Fritz, would you explain to me how your powers work, and by extension, your son?"

Mr. Fritz cleared his throat. "We can transform by being injured enough to draw blood. An explosion of heat and steam is created from the transformation. When it's done, the 'pilot' is situated in the back of the neck, specifically the nape. From few moments I've seen inside there, it seems to suspend us along the Titan's spine while wrapping us in muscle tissue and nerve endings to pilot the body. We also have a potent regeneration ability, a result of having to hurt ourselves constantly."

Naomasa rubbed his cheek in thought. "Are you considering training him? It sounds like a good idea. And it's certainly better than having him run amok again."

Mr. Fritz sighed. "Yes, I suppose I should, shouldn't I? Alright, I'll focus on training him when we find a good spot."

"Also," The Detective straightened his glasses. "Michael appears to be traumatized by his own actions. There are a number of quirk counseling methods out there that I can recommend. U.A. being one of them."

Mr. Fritz stared in disbelief. "Wha-? You're kidding right? U.A? No way we can afford that!"

"I never said you were paying. We're pretty desperate to have this not happen again, so we're taking drastic measures."

"Well, when does he start? Do we have any warning?"

"Michael will be assigned to head over in a few days to begin training and therapy. Rest up until then."

The two parents couldn't believe their ears. Their son was getting into U.A!

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Welcome to U.A. but Not Really**

Aching. That was the first thing Mike woke up to. His entire body screamed to just be left alone, but his brain said 'Nah, get up'.

"Guuugh." He groaned. He wasn't aching when he was at Momo's place, or at least he didn't notice it. Now that he was in his own bed, in his own home, he felt all of that pain and exhaustion.

Mustering what little muscle strength he had left, he turned over to his nightstand to check his phone.

**17 UNREAD MESSAGES**

**8 MISSED CALLS**

He brought up the number that called him the most.

"Heeeeey dude." He groaned again.

"WHERE IN THE SWEET FUCK WERE YOU?!" The raised voice of Minato blasted his eardrums.

"So that's how you say it…" Excellent, another profanity for the vocabulary.

"I tried calling you for hours! There was a giant monster running around, I thought you got killed out there!"

"Um. Dude."

"Don't fucking scare me like that! Promise me you'll never do that again!"

"Dude. I WAS the monster."

"...What."

"Surprise?"

"Cut the shit."

"Allow me to quote thee: 'It looks like your mom, but if she was a dude instead'."

There was a brief silence on the other side of the line. "Nope. Nuh uh. There is no way you actually turned into that thing."

"Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I'm none too happy either."

"It really doesn't."

"Didn't think it would. So anyway, what's new with you?"

"You're not going to deflect this conversation onto me. How are you feeling?"

"My everything hurts. Feels like I just got hit with a steamroller."

"Well that sucks. Hope you feel better."

"Thanks. Later dude."

"Wait, no you son of a-!"

Mike hung up, plopped his phone screen down back onto his nightstand, and sat up in bed. He took a moment to look around his room, appreciating being back. Drawings and paintings littered the walls, hung up by various means. Two notebooks sat on his desk, and a handheld video game sat in a small box in the corner.

'Home sweet home.' He thought to himself with a smile. 'Alrighty, time to get up.'

He cracked his knuckles, twisted his back, and swung his legs out of bed. After another round of stretching and scratching an itch, he left his room.

The kitchen was livelier than usual. His dad wasn't just sitting around, and his mom seemed to have much more pep in her step.

"Morning son." His dad greeted.

"Mornin'."

"We have a guest today, so say hello." His mother pointed over to the sofa in front of the TV.

A white, furry creature in a suit and tie popped up to look over it. "Good morning young Fritz." It said.

Mike just stared in disbelief for a few moments, trying to process what he was looking at. Was it a mouse? A dog? Bear? Gerbil? He honestly couldn't tell.

"To answer the question you must be thinking right now," it said. "I am Principle Nezu of U.A. High School."

Mike just kept staring, even more confused. "Uuhhh…"

Nezu hopped off the sofa and walked over to Mike, hands behind his back. He was only about knee height, which made talking to him just a bit more awkward.

"I came over to say hello and brief you on what you'll be doing in a few days. Care to take a seat?" Nezu gestured to the kitchen table. Mike wearily took a seat at the table and held his head against his hand. He inwardly debated whether this was a really weird dream or not.

"Mr. Nezu," Mike managed to croak out. "One thing at a time please, I just woke up and my everything hurts."

"That is quite understandable considering all you went through." Nezu said happily. Almost too happily.

"So...What's the principal of U.A. doing in our house?"

"Ah, of course." Nezu lightly smacked his own head. "You will be attending U.A. in a few short days for therapy and quirk training."

Mike stared at Nezu for about a minute before giving a coherent response.

"When was this decided?! Did mom and dad know?!"

"Of course! They approved it. Your father will assist, since he knows the most about your quirk."

Mike looked behind him to his dad. Sure enough, his dad waved to him and smiled. Nezu coughed, grabbing Mike's attention. "Right. We'll be heading over now to give you your orientation."

"Wait wait wait, what? What do you mean heading over? Right now?"

"Yep! Onward!"

Mike shrugged and went to grab his shoes. His parents did the same and got their things together. Mike went back into his room and grabbed his hoodie off his bed.

* * *

"A LIMO?!"

Before them was parked a shiny black limousine with the U.A. logo painted on the doors.

"You got us a friggin limo?!" Mike was flabbergasted. He expected something classy, but this was just ridiculous!

"Were you not expecting this?" Nezu smirked. Of course he didn't. Nezu smiled to himself. It was always fun to mess with humans.

"I expected at least something fancy, but not like this!"

"Well, no time for gawking at it, in you go." Nezu opened the door and gestured inside. The family sat down on the comfy leather seats and buckled themselves in.

"This is all...wow. Just wow." Mike marveled at the interior.

Nezu hopped in the passenger seat and signaled the driver. "Next stop: U.A.!"

Happy with the situation, Mike pulled up his hood, and let the hum of the engine lull him to sleep.

* * *

Mike woke with a jolt to his arm. He sat up straight and lifted his hood, looking around. He saw his dad looking at him. "You started snoring."

"Oh." Mike blushed and pulled his hood back down.

"Don't go back to sleep, we're almost there. Look." He pointed a finger. Outside the window, the massive building of U.A. high towered over the street.

"Woah."

A few minutes later, the limo pulled up in front of the school, and everyone disembarked. "Geez," Mike mused. "It's a lot bigger than I expected it to be."

"You expected the most prestigious school in Japan to be smaller?" His father chuckled. "If I'm correct, we'll be training here for a few months, just you and me."

A surge of uneasiness filled him when he heard that statement. His dad was usually laid back, but seeing him talk rather enthusiastically about training their quirks was quite unsettling. "And you're training me why?" Mike asked.

"Because," his dad explained, dramatically holding a finger up. "Our quirks are nearly identical in mechanics. If I can do it, so can you. That should give you a good idea of what you can do. I'm your control group, in other words."

"As long as I don't have to turn into that THING again." He said, turning back to the towering school building. He never saw the worried look on his father's face.

"Right then, moving on. The other teachers are waiting for us." Nezu declared, marching onward.

The inside of U.A. was just as big as the outside. The halls had enough height to accommodate even the tallest of students. Some of the doors were just as big. Nezu led them to a room at the far end of the school and opened the door. It seemed to be a conference table with a number of other pro heroes seated and staring at them in anticipation. Some of them however really didn't look like they belonged at U.A. one of them looked like a sentient block of cement with clothes. Another was blonde with black eyes, and looked far too frail and thin to be doing hero work. Another had scraggly black hair, wore a scarf, and generally just looked like a hobo.

"Please take a seat." Nezu gestured to the open seats at the front. He went around to the far side of the desk and hopped into his own chair. "Mr. Yagi, if you would?" Nezu held an open hand to the thin man on the left.

"Thank you. As you are quite aware, Mr. Fritz, your son has dealt catastrophic damage to the city, and will take months if not years to completely rebuild. However, we are pushing that to the side for the moment and focusing on what caused it. That brings us to Young Fritz here."

Mike held his head low and scrunched up in shame.

"What specifically caused this was a lack of knowledge and control of his quirk. From his statement to the police, we can gather that he has virtually no control over his transformation, and has no idea what triggers it."

Mr. Fritz shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"And so it falls upon us to help this young man control his power so an incident like this does not happen again." Mr. Yagi finished.

"It's my fault." All eyes turned to Mr. Fritz. "I should have taught him how to use it, but I neglected that in favor of him learning on his own. Shows me how well that went." He trailed off, seemingly in thought.

"Mr. Fritz." The hobo man said. "You have a similar quirk, yes?" He nodded in confirmation. "Then you'll be responsible for training him and teaching him how it works."

"I was planning on doing that anyway. I suspected a training regiment was inevitable." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Glad to see we're on the same page." He spoke with no emotion and a straight face. "My name is Shouta Aizawa. I'll be overseeing your training."

"A pleasure." Mr. Fritz managed a smile. Aizawa didn't. Creepy.

"Michael." Aizawa turned directly to Mike. He nearly jumped out of his seat from the seemingly cold, indifferent stare. "In a few days, you'll be starting your training and therapy. Recovery girl will be overseeing the therapy, and I'll be present during your training to make sure neither of you go overboard."

"Y-yes sir." Mike gulped.

"Alright, you can go now." Nezu piped up from the far end of the table. "Someone will be with you shortly to show you around."

The Fritz family looked between each other, then shrugged, got up and left. After stepping out the door, they waited for a few minutes, and sure enough, someone came right up to them.

"Wazzup people!" The man said. He had a pair of shades, slicked up blonde hair, and a personality that just screamed 'look at me'.

"You're Present Mic!" Mike exclaimed with a smile on his face and excitement in his voice.

"Oh ho ho! A fan I see?" Present Mic held a hand to his chin in a dramatic pose.

"Hell Yeah! You're the first hero I saw when I moved to Japan!"

"Foreigner, Huh? American?"

Mike gasped. How did he know?! "How did-"

"Your accent." He pointed. "How long have you been here?" Mic switched over to English, albeit with an accent.

"Couple years, actually." Mike switched over as well. It felt weird speaking English to someone other than his parents so casually. "Moved here because of a horrible accident I caused back there. Heh. Heh heh...Hehhhh."

Present Mic shrugged. "Eh, I won't ask about it. Probably pretty bad if you guys had to move all the way out here. Anyway, I completely forgot to introduce myself." He held out his hand to Mike's parents. "Nice to meet ya! Hizashi Yamada!" They each shook his hand and introduced themselves.

"Now that that's taken care of, I'm supposed to give you the tour! Onward!" Hizashi spun around and pointed at nothing in particular.

The tour of U.A. was...Surprisingly boring. It felt like a normal school, except everything was jumbo-sized. That included doors. The gym was the main focus, as Mike learned would be the site of his training. It was absolutely massive, almost as big as U.A. itself. It was just as big on the interior as well. Big enough for his Titan form to move around if he guessed right. Not that he would want to use that abomination, anyway.

He turned around to look behind him, only to see Aizawa standing there with a cold and tired expression, silent as a mouse. Needless to say, Mike nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Where the hell did you come from?! How are you so quiet?!" He pointed at the scraggly man.

"I came to make sure Yamada wasn't making an idiot out of himself. Unfortunately, judging by his dialogue during the tour he already did."

"That doesn't explain anything!" Mike threw his hands up.

Hizashi grinned at his coworker. "Come on, Shouta! The kid's ecstatic! Give him a break."

"Fine. Finish up the tour and get out. I have shit to do today." Aizawa lazily rolled his eyes.

"No you-"

"Shut."

Aizawa left the gym, leaving the four standing there in silence.

"Is he usually like this?" Mike broke the silence, leaning closer to Hizashi in a half whisper.

"All the time. Chances are he's going to be your homeroom teacher."

"Oh no." He realized in horror.

"Oh yes." Hizashi's grin somehow grew even wider. "And during this training, you're going to get experience working with him before anyone else in your class."

Mike gulped. No way he could take scares like that much longer. That man was going to give him a heart attack. "Mr. Yamada," Mike slowly looked at his tour guide. "Pardon my language, but how fucked am I?"

"Language pardoned." Hizashi put a finger to his chin in thought. "Weeeell...Last year he expelled an entire class, so pretty fucked."

Mike's face paled. "Is he even allowed to do that?! What about protocols?! Paperwork! You can't just expel an entire class without repercussions!"

"Fortunately and Unfortunately, U.A. has a free form teaching method that allows teachers to conduct lessons as they see fit." Hizashi explained. "So that gives them a lot of freedom for teachers to go PLUS ULTRA with their classes!"

"Which also means they can expel their entire class?" Mike supplied.

"That's where the 'Unfortunately' part comes in."

Mike sighed. Great, not only was his training going to be rigorous and backbreaking, but his actual class was going to be as well.

"You should be fine though. You seem like a good kid, despite your reasons for being here. If Eraser is going to be coaching you, then he should see you have potential."

So there was a glimmer of hope after all.

"So what do you teach?" Mike asked.

"I teach English!" Hizashi exclaimed. "But since you come from America, you're probably already fluent. Those lessons should be a breeze! Anyway, we're not here to talk about the curriculum, we're here for a tour. Follow me!"

The rest of the tour lacked the energy it had generated in the gym. The only thing left to go over was the classrooms and layout of the school, which went in one ear and out the other for Mike.

* * *

It had been a while since Toshinori had been in the decorated halls of U.A. It certainly had some renovations while he was gone. It was still strange to think he'd be teaching here in a little under a year. It was stranger to think that his successor would be going here too. It was even stranger to think the boy who he hurt would be attending as well.

Strange and small world, it seems.

Speaking of, how the hell was he going to confront him about it? No, confront was a strong word. Approach was more appropriate given the delicate circumstances. One wrong touch could send the boy haywire. Without training, he was a ticking time bomb. That notion frustrated Toshinori to no end, because he had no experience in bomb defusal so to speak. As much as he hated to admit it, even if it was to himself, he couldn't do anything about it. By the sound of things, the rigorous training he had in store would help him wrangle that massive beast lurking under his skin.

That wasn't his problem anymore. His main concern was Izuku Midoriya- His successor.

Training for Midoriya would be even worse than what Young Fritz would go through. Toshinori already had made a training regiment for the green haired boy so he could build up a bit of muscle before inheriting One for All. When questioned why such rigorous training needed to happen, He explained how One for All is overflowing with power, and as such needed a vessel capable of handling it even the slightest bit. If that didn't happen, the person would likely explode.

Morbidly funny as that sounded, it was a very real danger.

If Midoriya was going to get into U.A. like All Might did once upon a time, he'd need to be capable of at least calling on the power of One for All. And for that, he'd need a bit of muscle.

'My boy, I'll make a hero out of you yet.' Toshinori thought. He said his farewells to the other teachers before heading home for the day. Tomorrow would resume Midoriya's backbreaking training.

* * *

**Five Days Later**

The week went by in a blur for the Fritz family. One day they had been living calmly, and now their lives had been flipped upside down. Mike of course was affected the most by everything. The memory of what he'd done would stick with him until the day he died. He vowed never to have an incident like that happen again as long as he could help it. The first step to upholding that vow was quirk training.

That would explain why he was standing in U.A's massive gym facing his dad.

The scraggly hobo of a teacher, Shouta Aizawa watched them intently, staring at them without saying a word. He was there on standby in case anything went wrong with the training. His quirk, Erasure, nullified the quirk of anyone he looked at, making it useful in all kinds of situations. He mentally groaned, remembering that he'd be watching the two train for ten whole months.

"So," Damien rocked on his heels idly. "You probably want some answers as to how our quirks work, right?" He asked Mike.

"Darn right I do. How the hell could you just keep that much power out of my knowledge?! Did you know that would happen?!" Mike snapped, suddenly changing the mood of the room. "Something like this happened before, and you didn't think to prevent it again? What were you thinking?!"

Hearing his own son snap at him like that left a nasty feeling in Damien's heart. Ouch. "I know, I know, it was stupid of me not to think about that!" He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but let's focus on the here and now."

"Fine," Mike huffed. "I want to know everything." He sat down and crossed his legs. His father took the hint and did the same.

"Where do you want to start?" Damien asked.

"How the transformation is triggered." Mike responded.

Damien hummed thoughtfully. "The transformation is usually triggered by having a goal or belief in mind and being injured, Self inflicted or otherwise."

Mike also hummed in thought. "That makes more sense now."

"What?" Damien cocked an eyebrow. "What makes sense?"

"I wanted to go get an autograph from a hero across the street while I was walking home from school. Someone pushed me out of the way, and my face was introduced to the pavement."

"Huh." Was all that Damien said in response. After a long, contemplative silence, Mike spoke again. "Why did my giant form go berserk?"

"Now there's a good question, not one I could have answered myself back in the day. I had to refer to your grandmother for that." Damien recalled his early days of using his quirk, and how difficult it was to steer the thing and get a grip on it.

"Well, what did she tell you?"

"Okay, I'm going to explain it as simply as possible. Think of your Titan form as a flesh-mech. It needs you to act as a pilot and move it around like a puppet."

"That doesn't explain much."

"I'm getting there! So, you need to be conscious in order to control the Titan's movements. The 'pilot' is connected to a bunch of nerve endings in the nape of the neck. If you fell unconscious at the exact same time the transformation happened, the Titan would be operating entirely on its own."

Mike considered the implications of the new information. If he was conscious from the beginning, he could have controlled it! "I could have controlled it?"

"Not necessarily," Damien scratched the back of his neck. "The first few Titan transformations are always fuzzy and tricky to control. It's something you get used to, then the connection becomes a lot clearer. Your first transformation back in America would have been impossible to control."

"Oh. Well that's stupid." Mike pouted and crossed his arms. There goes that small glimmer of hope. "So either way, it would have ended in a rampage. Great."

"Yeah, It's a stupid thing that every titan user in our family went through." Damien chuckled. "When we officially start training your quirk, we should start with just simply transforming to reign in your control over it in an enclosed environment."

An enclosed environment...that might just work. Mike thought about the idea, and found it to be acceptable. "Alright, that sounds like a plan. Does U.A. have anything like that?"

Aizawa spoke out from the sidelines. "The mock cities are an ideal environment for simulating a real situation, so you could start there. Unfortunately, it's off site, and we don't have enough time to go out there today. Recovery Girl will want to speak to you though before you leave."

With plans made for the following session, Aizawa sent the two off to see the school's nurse, Recovery Girl. While Damien walked in relative silence, Mike's head was swarming with new information. How did his quirk work? How would he suppress it? How the hell had he not triggered it more often before now? Those questions plagued him, as the more he tried to answer them, the less sense the possibilities seemed to make. He broke from his thoughts when the duo arrived at the nurse's office. Mike knocked on the door, and a moment later, a little old woman answered.

"Uh, are you Recovery Girl?" Mike asked, scratching his head. She was a lot...smaller than he expected.

"That I am." She replied in a sweet voice. She looked rather old for being the 'Youthful Heroine', as she carried a cane with her. She certainly had the nurse aesthetic down pat; Full nurse styled hero costume, and her hair bun and cane were modeled after cartoonishly large syringes. "I know why you're here, but I want to hear it from you." She pointed her cane at Mike. "Come in and sit down, please."  
Father and son stepped inside and took their seats. Recovery Girl took her seat in a swivel chair, and cranked up the height of it to be at eye level with the two. "Now, Nezu tells me you're here for therapy and quirk counselling. Is that correct, young man?"

Mike nodded in confirmation. "Yes Ma'am."

The old nurse nodded in return. "It's good you were brought here when you were. Some children go their whole lives without quirk counselling, and it causes irreversible damage. Regardless of your previous circumstances, you're lucky to be here now." It was quite saddening and also terrifying how children could be left to figure out their quirks on their own. More often than not, they lost control and hurt someone. In some cases, that harm was intentional, and those children became villains at a young age.

Mike sighed, remembering the events of days prior. "Yeah, I guess I am. I want to control my quirk so that doesn't happen again, but I don't want to be the giant monster that caused this problem in the first place."

"That's good. Over the next few months, I'll be giving you quirk counseling between your practical sessions with your father." Recovery girl explained. "You'll need to be mentally ready to use your quirk as well as physically."

Mike nodded in understanding. "It's really scary not knowing what might happen if I use my quirk without being prepared."

"I'm glad we understand each other. Michael, I need to discuss some things with your father. Would you step outside please?"

Mike did as he was told and stepped outside the nurse's office. He leaned against the wall, thinking about his overview of U.A. Not only would he be attending the school like any other student, but he'd essentially be getting special treatment due to circumstances. While in any other case he'd think this was a bit unfair, he had to agree with the decisions made. Having him run around on his own was simply too dangerous of an option.

On the bright side, he'd get to make a few friends here.

Mike was pulled out of his thoughts by the nagging feeling of being watched. He turned his head and sure enough, someone was watching him. It was the sickly looking blonde man from the conference room.

Mike looked around before speaking. "Mr. Yagi, right?"

The man waved and smiled. "You're correct. I wanted to see how you're holding up. This must be quite a shift in your life."

"That's putting it lightly…" Mike groaned. "I'm just hoping to get this stuff over with. Training my quirk probably won't be fun."

"You showed quite a bit of control there, so you'll probably be fine." Mr. Yagi said. That was evidently the wrong thing to say, because Mike raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I-I saw you on the news! Yes. The news." Mike's brow lowered, apparently satisfied with the amendment to the statement. 'Dodged a bullet there, Yagi.' He thought. The skinny man wiped his brow, disguising it as scratching an itch.

"Thanks I guess." Mike shrugged. "What do you do here, anyway?"

Toshinori pulled out his age old excuse of "I'm All Might's secretary. I do things that he can't when he's out doing his hero work." Mike tensed at the mention of his swole alter-ego, but he seemed to have bought it. "So yeah, I'm here on his behalf essentially."

"Sounds like a good job. What kind of quirk do you have that got his attention?"

"Actually, I'm quirkless." Toshinori rubbed the back of his neck. "I know, I know, it's really rare. Not as much back in my day, but still uncommon."

"Huh...No kidding." Mike mumbled. "That _is_ pretty rare."

The two shared a rather awkward silence while standing there. A few thoughts still graced Mike's mind, though. How did a meek, quirkless man like Mr. Yagi get the attention of All Might? And why? Surely there would be better career choices than a secretary for the man, right? There were over a hundred other opportunities, but he went after the big man himself instead? It didn't make sense. Furthermore, what was Mr. Yagi doing at U.A.? He was a secretary, not a staff member, right? Why did he attend the meeting with his parents and the other teachers?

Unfortunately, those questions would have to wait. It seemed his dad was done talking to Recovery girl. The door to the nurse's office opened, and his dad stepped out with said nurse in tow. "Alright, so we discussed scheduling." Damien clapped his hands together. "And we'll be doing half-and-half sessions. Half Titan training, half therapy."

Mike nodded slowly, processing that information. It sounded like a fair balance; Titan training to get the practical stuff down, and therapy to knock out any insecurities about that training. Clever. "Sounds like a plan." He shook hands with Mr. Yagi before being led out to the front of the school, a limousine waiting to take them back home.

Tomorrow would begin Mike's hell on earth.

**End of Chapter 4**


End file.
